There is an ever-growing need for improved seating systems in automotive vehicles. The surge in popularity of hatchbacks, sport utility vehicles and minivans, has posed unique design challenges, in view of the need for seating to be adjustable and in many instances to restrain cargo carried toward the rear of the vehicle. In light of the increased consumer usage of these vehicles for stowage and transport of cargo along with passengers (particularly passengers in rear seats), manufacturers have turned their attention to improving the ability of the seating systems to withstand large loads.
One approach has been to develop improved systems for transmitting loads to the seat tracks of vehicle seating assemblies. A growing number of applications, however, employ attachment of seating components directly to the vehicle body in white for load distribution to the body in white. For the improved seat track technology to be viable in the latter applications, it would require substantial modification, which is believed would unduly complicate the manufacturing procedures, require the development of expensive new processing techniques, or add substantial weight to the vehicles. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved, readily manufactured seating system that is capable of meeting vehicle manufacturer design criteria and government standards for vehicles, and which can be efficiently and conveniently adapted for use in a variety of applications including those involving seat track load distribution, body in white load distribution or both.
In addition to having load bearing characteristics, it may be desirable for seating systems to include one or more additional functional features, ordinarily packaged elsewhere (e.g., in other locations of a vehicle). Examples of such features include ducts, vents, motors, electronic devices, entertainment devices, communications devices, other comfort, convenience or utilitarian features and the like. Accommodation of these features in conventional seats often poses difficulties given the limited packaging space available. Thus, there is also a need for a seating system that can integrate one or more comfort, convenience or other utilitarian features.
Examples of advantageous improved systems for seating are disclosed in commonly-owned and co-pending U.S. application Ser. Nos. 09/766,792 (filed Jan. 22, 2001), and 60/312,874 (filed Aug. 15, 2001), and 60/335,430 (filed Oct. 31, 2001), the teachings of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.